Purely for safety purposes, flame retardance or flame resistance of a fabric is a highly desirable characteristic. Of many methods available for developing various levels of flame retardancy, all possess a variety of disadvantages, the principal ones being the inability of the flame retardant material, or treatment, to last through laundering or dry cleaning operations. Another principal disadvantage of treatments of fabrics to develop this characteristic of flame retardance is the loss of hand in the substrate. The problem is greatly aggravated in some areas of handling, particularly where it is necessary to meet statutory requirements for flame retardance in garments. Their physical condition being in the form of a bundle of fine fibers invites and encourages the sustenance of a flame if one gets started in the fabric. That is, a large area of oxidation is presented to any flame which gets started.
It is accordingly a basic object of this invention to provide a method employing familiar techniques in the textile industry for the application of flame retardant materials to textile fibers, whether the fibers be in the form of woven cloth, knitted cloth or in the form of balls of the thread prior to being woven into the cloth.
It is another object of the invention to provide technique which can be melded with the dispersed dyestuff application techniques for rendering fabric, and particularly heat stable, hydrophobic textile fibers and fabric, flame retardant.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and in part appear hereinafter.